Health behaviors of patients with peripheral atherosclerosis from the examples of surgical patients

Introduction: Atherosclerosis is one of the basic causes of diseases in the twenty-first century. Positive health behaviors of high intensity can significantly slow down the negative process caused by atherosclerosis. The aim of the study was to analyse the health behaviors of patients with atherosclerosis treated surgically, including the impact of gender, education, place of residence, and type of operation to which patients were enrolled.

Material and methods:  The research used the method of a diagnostic survey, which was conducted from August 2014 until March 2015 on a group of 102 patients enrolled to: endarterectomy, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, or by-pass of the lower extremities. The technique of questionnaires was used with a standardised questionnaire of Behavioral Health Inventory written by Zygfryd Juczyński and for complement of the data with the using of author’s tool.

Results: The examined group of patients showed an average intensification of health behavior patterns. 51.96% of the patients smoked cigarettes, and the average length of addiction lasted 32.05 years. Only 43.14% of respondents checked their cholesterol level once a year. Daily blood pressure measurement was taken by 35.29% of respondents, but 8.18% of respondents did not measure it at all. In terms of physical activity, the largest group were those who did not show any activity – 34.31%. People who had had diabetes accounted for 39.21% of respondents, and 12.50% of them did not check their blood glucose levels at all.

Conclusions: There was no significant relationship between gender and education and health behavior, but the influence of place of residence in health behaviors showed statistical significance (p < 0.05). People with diabetes did not differ in the intensity of health behaviors compared to those without diabetes. Patients require constant and individualised education from medical personnel in order to increase motivation to change and to maintain new health behaviors.